Why I am no longer Black. (or, black racism is getting me angry) (parties, vote)
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I have now officially vowed to never again call myself Black or African American (God, I hate that term) again. I could say I'm Black and European, or colored (non-white) but I am through saying I'm black and now realize I should never have identified as black.
I'm half Black American, half Italian...okay, my black father was 1/4 Cherokee and 1/8th English, but he's pretty dark. My mother was as Italian as Al Capone. My grand parents were fresh off the boat Italian, from Catania, in Sicily. We had the traditional seven fishes every Christmas and I was fed Italian wine when I was like twelve and my grandfather would play opera records while he worked around his house and I was raised Catholic. My father was black, and I spent a lot of time with my black family too.
Anyway, I was at a bar with some folks the other day and I mentioned that I always wanted to learn Italian, which I never picked up from my relatives and I said I always wanted to know my family's mother tongue. Well, a black guy overheard and gave me the look of death, but didn't say anything. I asked him what his problem was and the SAME F^^^^ fight that I've had numerous times with black people broke out. He said, and I quote, "n^^^^a, you know you ain't no damn Italian! What, you gotta problem being black?"
My chums at the bar were quite loud in their rebuttals, and the outnumbered black fellow made that hiss sound and walked away.
I've gotten this SO DAMN MUCH. Black folks, insisting I call myself black exclusively and ignore the dominate part of my DNA (My mother was all Italian, my father was not all black, hence, genetically, I'm mostly Italian) They give me this reaction of contempt and anger if I so much as acknowledge my other side.
And then, they even seem to get mad at me for the crime of being alive. Some pure black Americans look at me with hatred when they hear me talk. It's like they're afraid I'm going to pollute their Afro-Aryan gene pool, being this brown skinned fellow who has the nerve to speak proper English.
And spare me...SPARE ME that "one drop rule" crap. That was the law once upon a time, yes...but it was also against the law for anyone with black blood to learn to read, does that mean I should never go back to school? How much should I care about what some long dead bigot thinks?
Or, they say "if this was back in the day, you would be enslaved by the white man." Yes...and if I was in Haiti right after the revolution, the blacks would have gladly lopped my head off. If I was in South Africa RIGHT NOW I would be treated like dirt by the black majority who discriminate against the mixed-race coloureds. So, I shouldn't identify with a group that wants to oppress me...unless that group is the blacks, then it's okay if I identify with the oppressor.
And I don't identify as only white either, but the more I think about it...why should I be ashamed for having white blood? If I called myself black exclusively, as many mulattoes do, wouldn't being ashamed being exactly what I'm doing? I mean, if a mixed person said "I'm white" despite being light brown, people would think they're ashamed of having black blood. But, if they say "I'm black," no one thinks it's because they're ashamed of having white blood.
And the funniest part is, I've met so many people from Italy, and none of them had a problem with me being black and Italian. I say I want to learn Italian, and they think I mean right then and there and they try to teach me some words. They never seem to have any problem with a mixed race Italian...but "my brothers?" The minute they find out I am mixed and am not afraid to admit it they have problems.
As none-PC as it may be to say, in my lifetime I have found that blacks are twice as racist as whites when it comes to this. I got beaten up as a kid by the pure blacks who hated me for having lighter skin and clearly Italian features (strong cheek bones, dark under my eyes, shorter statue etc)
It was never a member of the KKK or a skinhead who chased me around calling me the "N word" and trying to kick my butt, it was the black kids who did just that. Plus, I'm not culturally ghetto, so it was even worse...
...look at it this way: a white kid wearing a T-shirt of a heavy metal band walks past some black ghetto kids. They wouldn't do anything...but a mulatto kid in a T-shirt for a heavy metal band walks past the same black thugs, and they are going to attack him for listening to "white music." I know because I WAS that mulatto kid.
I mean, is a white guy betraying his race if he prefers rap to blue grass music? No, and hardly no white people would give him any problems. But if a person of black origin, part or full, hates rap and likes heavy metal and rock? All of a sudden he's "acting white" and he's a traitor.
First of all, listening to Jimmy Hendrix as opposed to Kenya West is hardly "acting white" and second, I am half white! So I should never listen to music or experience the culture of the other side of me? (again, I should be ashamed of having white blood, and no one has a problem with that)
And yes, I hate rap...if no one is singing, playing an instrument, or composing, IT ISN'T MUSIC! I would much rather listen to rock, metal, electronic music or classical. But because that is not "orthodox Negroid thought" and it is bad enough that I am breathing while mixed and not a pure Afro-Aryan, I am a target for so many racist blacks.
I have nothing against black people, or my black blood. But, if I call myself black, I would be betraying my other half and embracing a people who so often have issues with my very existence. Hence, I am half-black, and will never call myself black again...
...and for the record, Obama isn't black either. But he lived a sheltered upperclass lifestyle in Hawaii and didn't go through what I went through on the East Coast, so he's a different story. He's also a failure of a president who should be a one term wonder...but that's another thing blacks would attack me for saying out loud.
Don't want to be black....good. We won't miss you... See ya!
This I'll say: the Black posters here are all over the map about victorianpunk's feelings about his family but almost all the white posters here back him up.
Australian aboriginals and Papau New Guineans have black skin but are considered of the Caucasian race.
Yet,if they were to come to the Usa they would be treated as black.
What the OP fails to realize,because I will repeat,is that Mulatto people separated themselves from darker skinned blacks. Whites didn't force it,darker skinned blacks didn't force them too.
They are the ones who carried the paper bag test at clubs to keep out dark skinned blacks.
W.E.D Dubois started the theory about "the talented tenth". He was very racist against dark skinned blacks,esp Marcus Garvey.
Take a look at early pics of the NAACP. Almost all are light skinned. The NAACP actively kept darker skinned blacks from leadership positions in the early days.
In any event,as I stated, what I see with my own eyes is that very dark skinned blacks have it 100x harder than mixed folks.
I have a very dark skinned friend who is an American black,and everyone asks her if she is African or they just assume she is even though she isn't. She also has been accused of lying. So it just isn't you Op,everyone goes through it. People view you as they want to view you.
This I'll say: the Black posters here are all over the map about victorianpunk's feelings about his family but almost all the white posters here back him up.
AND THAT IS THE STORY OF THE LIVES OF SO MANY MIXED BLACK PEOPLE!
Whites are kind of like "meh, whatev" or "I here you." Blacks are, half the time, "I hear you, I understand that you have two peoples and at the end of the day, you don't really belong to either and blacks can be absolute douche bags at times."
The other half of blacks?....
What will it take for you to realize that the black people on this forum don't care if you choose to identify as black? Would you rather take the word of teens and drunks at a bar?
I'm sure there are plenty of "black pride" folks who don't like when biracial/multiracial people don't identify as black. But, don't assume that all black people are this way. Because of all of the race mixing that resulted from slavery, you'd be hard pressed to find an African-American in the US without some European DNA. Same with whites...some folks would get a HUGE wake-up call if they realized that their ancestors "passed" to start a white family line.
In the end, DO WHAT YOU WANT!!! Folks have told you this on this thread. Why do you disregard it just to fuss about folks not allowing you the freedom to choose?
Are you not grown? Are you not a man? If so to both of these questions, aren't you strong enough to state your claim and to hell with naysayers?
Stop focusing on the negative in the black race. We are a race of beautiful, strong, intelligent and determined people. You're doing your "black side" a disservice when you associate black without everything wrong and negative.
While you claim that you are only looking to acknowledge all sides of your heritage, your problems seem to run deeper. The way you talk negatively about the black race and women seems to suggest that you are incredibly insecure. Any educated person knows that there are "bad apples" in all races; the intelligent thing to do is focus on the POSITIVE.
Excellent post, but it won't be addressed because it makes too much sense!
Yes, people are okay with that, because I don't care how much white you have in your DNA, if you do not "look" white, you will not be considered white. Period. Conversely, people are accepted as being black even when their skin is very light. Again, we come in all shades, so it's no biggie.
For the tenth time, what if someone looks neither black nor white? And yes, mixed people look different from light skinned blacks: I'm shorter than about 90% of blacks (southern Italians tend to be runts...) my hair is a curly mess (mixed hair...oi!) and my nose is different. Again, everybody thinks I'm Latino when they first meet me...so am I from Honduras and didn't know it?
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Why on earth do you care what Obama checked on the census form? Does it impact your life? Are you so fragile that you're traumatized because someone calls you a name? If so, you have a very rough road ahead.
So if Obama clicked "white" on the census box, you wouldn't be angry with him, nor would the black community?
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So, you're mixed. Why is that such a big deal? Moreover, how is one being dishonest by refusing to be racially categorized by the U.S. government? Why can't people simply enjoy life as human beings?
It wasn't just the census: Obama has made it clear that he hates being mixed (read his first book if you don't believe me) And yes, I would love to be a human being and nothing else...but people want let me, you or anyone else do so.
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Oh stop! What black church treated like that? I used to attend a large AME Church, and we had every shade in the book in our congregation. I have also been a member of black Baptist churches. Again, every shade, including white. I suppose next you'll say you were forced to wait until all the "pure" black people were seated at a soul food restaurant before you could be served. This is beyond absurd.
It happened, ironically, at an AME church (which, btw, I hated and only went there because a friend asked me to go) It is a fact that blacks have a problem with mixed people. Just deal with it.
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As for being "high yellow" -- my son has certainly had plenty of black girls ringing his phone off the hook. And, that started in elementary school. You MUST be kidding.
I have heard white people INSIST that racism is dead in America and doesn't EVER happen. Now, I hear a black saying the same thing about racism against mixed people in the black community. You're just as purposely naive as they are.
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No one has even remotely suggested you should deny your Italian heritage. But, you shouldn't be obsessed with it either.
Well, if I am black and black only, then that means I'm not Italian, now doesn't it?
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But, this isn't 1912. It's 2012. And, this is the USA, not Haiti. No one is having their head chopped off for being biracial. Stop living in the past.
But bringing up the "you'd still be a slave", which I never denied, btw, isn't "living in the past"?
In the US, in the year 2012, mixed people have it rough in both the black and white world. To say that blacks are fine with mixed people is like saying there is no racism at all in America.
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No, it is not a hard pill to swallow, because most people of average intelligence realize people of ANY race can be bigots. Who has said otherwise? There is much more to your story. You have issues, but it's not due to your treatment by black folks.
You're right: being called names, treated as a stranger amongst my "own kind" and made to feel like a freak, EVEN AMONGST MEMBERS OF MY OWN FAMILY, had nothing to do with my feeling bad. You're right. And yes, many of my white family members are downright evil too: Me and and my siblings and father were forbidden from going to an Aunt's wedding, and she and an uncle just didn't like us. My grandparents were cool, but the other ones had issues.
But, they never denied that I was mixed, just too black for them. Blacks however?...
Basically, among about half of black folks it's "you're a worthless half-breed, half cracker high yellow blah blah blah who talk like a white boy and you better stay out of this neighborhood you Mexican looking punk and...and...hey, why don't you want to call yourself black? What, you don't want to be a part of your community?"
With blacks, it's like they think I should hate myself and still identify just with them, even after they do everything make it clear I'm not one of them. With whites they get that I am neither and both at the same time.
Oh, and then there's this little gem that I really should have brought up earlier...is this somehow not racist? And if a white person said this about mixed people, would it NOT have made headlines and resulted in all hell breaking out? But, a black guy is racist against mixed people, and as usual it's perfectly okay, and I'm wrong for being offended by this according to many blacks.
None of what you said is either true or relevent to the point that I mentioned earlier. I could easily say that most black people do care whether or not someone chooses to soley identify as black which is the point of what the OP discussed earlier. Heck, most blacks would pee their pants if Obama ever woke up and considered himself "white." I'll even go so far to say that if Barack ever did that--you would even have some blacks who would wish for him to experience hardcore racism to force him to fall back in line with whatever their defnition being "black" is. That' how sick and twisted some folks are.
Also Drake (I'm assuming that is who you are referring to), is a top Hip Hop act--true, however the reason he is one of the biggest hip hop acts out there is because of his mainstream appeal that is primarily supported by whites. After all, whites are the primary consumers of all hip hop music. His success has nothing to do with the alleged black tolerence of biracials in black oriented music.
I personally believe that you, and many others are just hearing what you want to hear to mask the idea that you are threatened by the very notion that he doesn't fall in line and consider himself completely black.
You got all of that from my posts? I'm not going to get any cookies if he calls himself Black or not, so I'm not threatened by his stance. I don't deny that people are teased and picked on for a variety of reasons, but the OP claims that Blacks hate his very existance. I call BS on that. Maybe you don't see the correlation between his comments on Black people because you think the same way.
ROFL!! Now that's the real-life test for being black in America. By and large, people will treat you based on how they see you and people who look like you, not on how you see yourself.
For the tenth time, if I followed that rule I would be Dominican or Puerto Rican or Jordanian or Indian (south Asian, not Native American)
Yes, I have the police pulling me over for no reason. But do you REALLY THINK the police don't harass Latinos too? I'm treated badly because I'm colored, not because I'm half black.
But again, show me ONE dark skinned Afro-Aryan who raced the harassment and resentment mixed people face from blacks.
This I'll say: the Black posters here are all over the map about victorianpunk's feelings about his family but almost all the white posters here back him up.
The white posters have an ulterior motive. If you think for a minute that white people give a damn about black racial identity, you're fooling yourself. As a practical matter, white folks don't even give it a thought. If the OP were to commit a crime, these same white posters would paint him as black as a tire if it came down to it....just like they did O.J.
For purposes of this thread, backing the OP is a chance for the white posters (who happen to be nearly ALL conservatives) to do what they see as poking black folks in the eye. Telling the OP that he doesn't have to be solely black dilutes whatever smidgen of black political power or unity that they THINK exists. Now they aren't poking me, because i don't give a damn about the issue for the most part. People can be whatever they want to be as far as i'm concerned. That's why i opened with my comments about my feelings that the OP was just seeking attention.
As far as i'm concerned, whites don't even get a say so in these matters where it involves black people. As i've pointed out, they've already screwed up the whole racial dynamic and are completely responsible for things being what they are already relative to race and racial identification and classification.
Besides, even if i was looking for backup by whitefolks to bolster my argument and my own idea of self identification, i'd still have to turn off my computer eventually and deal with black people on my own terms if i'm the OP....and white folks are powerless to help him in that situation. Completely powerless. So all that backup is a waste of time anyway.
If you think for a minute that white people give a damn about black racial identity, you're fooling yourself. As a practical matter, white folks don't even give it a thought. If the OP were to commit a crime, these same white posters would paint him as black as a tire if it came down to it....just like they did O.J.
And if I were to speak proper English in the wrong neighborhood and dress properly and get an education, blacks would AND DO paint me as some kind of traitor.
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For purposes of this thread, backing the OP is a chance for the white posters (who happen to be nearly ALL conservatives) to do what they see as poking black folks in the eye. Telling the OP that he doesn't have to be solely black dilutes whatever smidgen of black political power or unity that they THINK exists. Now they aren't poking me, because i don't give a damn about the issue for the most part. People can be whatever they want to be as far as i'm concerned. That's why i opened with my comments about my feelings that the OP was just seeking attention.
So, blacks should have all the Tiger Woodses, Obamas and Alicia Keyes and mixed people get...nothing? So, you're saying we should NOT ONLY not have political power but that she shouldn't be allowed to think we exist? So, who's the racist here, you or the other posters?
BTW, what's wrong with being conservative? I am a centrist, and have views that are liberal and others that are conservative and I vote for both parties, so what? Blacks can't be conservative? Is black now a political identity too?
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As far as i'm concerned, whites don't even get a say so in these matters where it involves black people. As i've pointed out, they've already screwed up the whole racial dynamic and are completely responsible for things being what they are already relative to race and racial identification and classification.
So, someone who is half black and half white has no stake in his or her own family and heritage and that side should "stay out"? I guess Korans should have no say in my friend's matters too, because she is black and Korean...
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Besides, even if i was looking for backup by whitefolks to bolster my argument and my own idea of self identification, i'd still have to turn off my computer eventually and deal with black people on my own terms if i'm the OP....and white folks are powerless to help him in that situation. Completely powerless. So all that backup is a waste of time anyway.
Indeed, you are right about that: in the end, I think the only thing us mixed folks have are ourselves and, of course, OTHER MIXED FOLKS. That's why I usually associate with whites and mixed people nowadays, and one of the reasons I love the west coast: there are a lot of us here.
Oh...and speaking of blacks: what if a white person had said this about half black, half white girls? It would be an uproar, and rightfully so. But a black guy says it? Not a peep...go ahead, say it isn't racist and look like a fool.
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